City manager hopefuls narrowed down

Only five of the 13 candidates who applied for the Ocala city manager position meet the minimum qualifications and only one of them, Matt Brower, currently works for the city.

By Susan Latham CarrStaff writer

Only five of the 13 candidates who applied for the Ocala City Manager position meet the minimum qualifications, and only one of them, Matt Brower, currently works for the city.The Ocala City Council has said it would like to hire from within the city's ranks but would consider any qualified candidate.Besides Brower, two other candidates who work for the city, Cynthia K. Haile and Bruce H. Phillips, applied for the job but neither meets the minimum requirements. Minimum qualifications include graduation from an accredited four-year college with major coursework in public administration, business administration or a related field, 10 years of progressively responsible management experience and at least five years as an organization's chief executive officer or assistant CEO.Four of the 10 candidates who applied who currently do not work for the city meet the minimum requirements. Among them are two names familiar in City Hall circles: former Ocala City Council member Richard A. "Andy" Kesselring Jr., and former Interim City Manager and Assistant City Manager Bill Looney. The other two qualified external candidates are Lyndon L. Bonner, who has 14 years of local government experience, including four years as a city manager and two years as a county administrator, and Thomas E. Garlock, who resides in Ocala and has more than 20 years of management experience.Ocala's current city manager, Ricky Horst, came to Ocala from South Jordan, Utah. He began work in Ocala on Sept. 8, 2008, at an annual salary of $165,000. His salary today is $174,075. Horst's last day as Ocala's city manager is Feb. 1, then he leaves to take a similar position in Rocklin, Calif.The City Council is expected to review the applications of the qualified applicants at its meeting at 4 p.m. Tuesday in council chambers on the second floor of City Hall, 151 Osceola Ave., Ocala."I guess it's encouraging to know that many people locally want to participate in the process," City Councilman Kent Guinn said Thursday.Guinn said he likes Brower and the work he and Horst have done to bring down electric utility rates, but said he will review all the applications."We will look at all of them and give all of them a fair chance. That's what we are supposed to do, so that's what we will do," Guinn said.Councilwoman Suzy Heinbockel said she glanced at the applications."There are more people in the community that are qualified and interested in that job than I thought there would be outside the city employees," Heinbockel said. "As far as specific people, I don't want to comment. I haven't looked at it close enough and I want to talk to some people first."The criteria for the Ocala job also lists several preferred qualifications, which include a master's degree, ICMA credentialed city manager status, and five years as a city manager or assistant.In addition to meeting the minimum job requirements, Brower also meets two of the three preferred criteria. Brower was city manager in Santa Clara City, Utah, from January 2000 to October 2008, when he was hired as the assistant city manager of utility services by the city of Ocala. Brower also has a master of public administration degree. He currently lives in Ocala.Bonner appears to be the only applicant who meets all the minimum and preferred criteria. Although he has been an Ocala resident for 40 years, Bonner currently is the county administrator in Okeechobee County. According to his application, Bonner's employment agreement with Okeechobee expires in February and his departure is amicable. He, like Ocala's Horst, said he would like to be closer to family. He worked 11 months as interim assistant county administrator for Sumter County, four years as city manager for the city of Bunnell, about 2½ years as director of public services for the city of Dunnellon and five years as a planner and zoning and code official for the city of Wildwood.Bonner holds a bachelor of science degree in business administration from the University of Florida and a master's degree in business administration from Webster University. He is an International City and County Managers Association credentialed manager and also holds certification in emergency management and mediation.

Garlock obtained a bachelor of arts degree in government and public policy from the State University of New York, Empire State College, in Albany, N.Y. He has a varied background that includes extensive management experience. His career began in 1977 as a legislative aide in the New York State Assembly. He has worked for the Greater Buffalo (N.Y.) Chamber of Commerce; was vice president/director of communications for Fleet Financial Group of Buffalo, N.Y.; president and CEO of the Zoological Society of Buffalo Inc.; and most recently was general manager of the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission in Lewiston, N.Y., from 2000 to 2008.Kesselring offers 25 years of government experience, both as an active citizen participant and as an elected official. He served as an Ocala city councilman in 1988 and from 1989 to 1999, and on the Marion County Commission from 2000 to 2008. He currently serves on the city of Ocala's Planning and Zoning Board. Kesselring also has executive experience, having owned and operated his own architectural landscaping business, EDK Environmental Design since 1990.A licensed landscape architect, Kesselring holds a master of arts degree in political science and a bachelor of arts degree in landscape architecture, both from the University of Florida.Looney also brings local government experience to the table. He began his career in banking in Tennessee in 1975 and went on to own his own contracting company from 1979 to 1982 in Johnson City, Tenn. His career in government began as a senior budget analyst for Mayor Bob Martinez in Tampa in 1982. He worked as budget director for the state of Tennessee and as executive director and business manager of East Tennessee State University. From 1999 to 2008, Looney was assistant city manager for the city of Ocala and from July 2008 to September 2008 he was the city's interim city manager. He presently is administrative consultant to the Town of Southwest Ranches in Southwest Ranches, a position he assumed in October 2009.Looney holds a bachelor of science degree in business administration from the University of Tennessee and studied business administration on the graduate level.Cynthia K. Haile, one of the two other city employees to apply for the city manager's job, has worked in the city's police department since August 1996, first as a communications technician and more recently as a community services specialist.She has a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and is pursuing a master's degree.Bruce Phillips, a civil engineer and currently the city's assistant city manager of public services, began working for the city in October 1996 as a land surveyor.He has risen through the ranks to become city engineer and, in September 2008, was promoted to assistant city manager.He has 10 years of senior management experience but lacks a college degree.When asked, Phillips said that in order to take his engineering license exam, the state required either a college degree or equivalent experience, so he thought his experience would qualify him for the city manager's position as well.Contact Susan Latham Carr at 867-4156 or susan.carr@starbanner.com.